Chapter 3

Daeira was told what to do. And the first thing of all important things to execute was to act scared. Like really pissed in the pants scared when she stepped foot on the very ground of the Agartha. Her blindfold was removed before the guards of the gigantic gate of the kingdom. If her mouth wasn't duct-taped, she would have screamed after seeing the gatekeepers. She had been brief about what kind of monstrosity she will have to deal with in the so-called advanced civilization but seeing the creatures upfront was another thing. 

Two large Minotaur approached Esee and Csal. They exchanged in that ancient language again. She can't help but to throw an unintentional scared look to the large stature of those half bull and half man creatures while they huffed in an angry tone before proceeding into inspecting her as if scanning her with their observant eyes. 

'Act scared, act scared, act scared.' Daeira chanted in her mind. However, the large beads of sweat across her face signaled the beasts that she was near into collapsing in fear of them. It took a while before the chief of gatekeepers signaled for their passage of the gate.

The first task, get through the huge gate without being detected of their mission.

Second, she will be presented before the King by Esee and Csal who will pretend as the ones who hunted and captured her for a price.

Third, try not to be eaten. Of course, that would be easy. If she kept her strength intact, she can bolt a run when the king decided to go cannibal to her.

Fourth, the most important thing of all the things above, find the king's weaknesses. Because he was said to have little to nothing at all. His abilities stayed unmatched even after centuries. Many times, the Nazis tried to destroy him but to no avail. In the recordings, he controls elements and there was still much-undiscovered power he possessed that Nazis would love to know. Because if one knows the enemy's weakness, one can be the victor over the other.  She will have to find out how will the king opened and closed the gates of the underworld to his beckoning because according to Nazis, they will prevent him from proliferating terror in the surface world. 

"Why not try to attack them force by force?" she even asked stupidly.

"you don't understand child. Agartha is an advanced civilization. Nothing on earth's surface can match their technologies. We've sent spies, but no human can even enter the gate alive."

"then that disqualifies me," she insisted trying to get out from the unnecessary chaos of the unknown.

"Again, you’re the bride and our last thread of hope in preventing that from happening," the elder said referring to the apocalypse, "find his weakness before the rise of the black moon in the sky."

"Black moon?" she asked and tried recalling if there was even one in the sky before.

"The time of those hybrids into surface world hunting," 

And Daeira shivered at the mere thought. Being right in the Agartha didn't make her feel quite heroic. Nevertheless, the elder had always made her shouldered the salvation of the human. 

'Just make a step carefully, like water droplets inconsistency can create a chink even to the massive rock.' that elder said. 

"Concentrate, Daeira." Esee managed to bring her back from reveries when they were in front of the last door. She looked from her behind and she frowned at the long stretch of hallway bathed with golds and crystals. When she looked down, the floors were adorned with different stones. She can't name all of them but she saw Ruby, Jade, and Amethyst. There weren't any chandeliers lighting their way but in the darkness outside, the place was well lit from somewhere. She wandered her eyes to locate where those lights came from but her attention snapped when another two Minotaur opened the door to them. 

Daeira slightly winced when Esee and Csal rashly dragged her with them. The rope tightened on her wrist behind her back and the duct tape became a little bit uncomfortable now. She was okay awhile ago even with those restraints but she felt suffocated by the time they entered the large hall. She was thrown mercilessly by Csal which made her sprawled on the floor. She felt annoyed by that as she snapped her head towards the cheeky-eyed girl. But she saw Esee and Csal expression. Unsure and fearing as they immediately bowed down. Csal was the one to speak on their language in a trembling voice. 

Daeira winced again when the rope tightened on her wrist. She managed to look up in front of her and regretted it so much. Her bones clattered between her flesh upon beholding the same beast on her dream. But it seemed more vicious and hostile when it growled so loudly, making the hall trembled. All the subjects fell down the floor, bowing, pleading. Even Esee and Csal shivered before the beast. The elder called this the great winze...or humanity's abominable curse. 

At first, Daeira felt a little confident in agreeing in doing the task for the sake of humanity who didn't even have the idea that she was here, sacrificing herself for them and at the mercy of the beast. She can even happily comply into jumping from the tallest building in the world than spend another minute before the animal. 

The animal let a low growl which snapped her attention to it. In the front, there was a seat behind the strutting animal. She thought it might had been the throne. Besides the seat, she saw two men bowing their heads but she can't be mistaken that those were the hunters in her dreams. On their faces were displeasure over something when the beast snarled at them so angrily that they fell on their knees, speaking on their languages. On her ears, they were as if asking for forgiveness. 

Daeira blinked the tears in her eyes while her stares still directed to the beast. Her body was beyond shivering in fear. No, she wasn't signed up for this. She’d rather die by gun than being torn apart flesh by flesh. The horror of her dreams came like a flood in her mind.